Prayer:
Lord God, prepare our hearts to receive your message this morning. Let your Word come to us clearly and simply. Help us to focus on the One who is coming, and escape the many distractions that might derail us, so that we can truly welcome your Son Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen.
In the midst of the haste, the noise, the distractions,and busyness of the Christmas season, comes the clear and insistent call of John the Baptist: in today's Gospel: 'Prepare the way for the Lord!'
'Prepare the way.' We might be doing a lot of preparing, but for whom? And for what? Are we simply 'preparing the way' for ourselves, and our loved ones? Many people include a Christmas eve service, Christmas music and carols in their plans for this special time of the year. We might send out cards, reminding loved ones that 'Jesus is the reason for the Season,' and tell our children, "Christmas is Jesus' birthday' but it's all too easy to lose our focus and think the most important parts of Christmas are the family gatherings, the food, presents and decorations. To test this, just consider how you would feel if you took those things away.
In 1996, not far from Horsham, some peas had fallen on the railway track, and derailed part of a freight train. Peas?! yes, peas. So small. So innocent. So harmless. But not this time! A lot of damage was done. Peas derailed a train. The clutter of this season (and of modern life generally) can derail us, spiritually. Some children may disagree, but peas are good things. Nutritious. Small. Harmless. Usually! There are many good things in our culture, to do with Christmas. But sometimes, as the saying goes, 'the good can be the enemy of the best.'
Hear the Word of the Lord: "Prepare the way for the Lord! Make straight paths for him!"
Ask yourselves, are you doing this? Or has the spiritual focus of your life been derailed? Little things, -things that might be good in themselves- can do this. There are many people who started out in the faith. They were baptised, and went to Sunday School. They may have gone to church for a while. But no more. Why not? Maybe some big thing, (at least something that was big to them), stopped them coming. Or maybe it was simply a little thing, or a few little things, which moved them slightly off balance, and over time they ended up derailed. The wheels are off the tracks, and they aren't going anywhere.
There may be people here today, who aren't going anywhere, spiritually. Christmas might change our belt size and add more toys to our cupboards, but will there be a change where it matters most: In our hearts? Our Lord comes to be with us, not as a temporary Christmas guest, but as our Saviour and God forever. Are we prepared for this? Will he find our doors opened wide, and everything arranged to please him? Or are we not yet ready, because our lives are arranged only to please ourselves? If we have no welcomefor God and his Word in our lives, we remain damaged and derailed, bound for the scrap heap.
The Lord sent John the Baptist to get his people back on track. He does not want anyone to end up on the scrap heap. No matter how badly wrecked our lives are, he wants to restore us.
Verse 5 of our text says, "The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the Jordan River." It's not easy to get a train back on its rails, especially if its been twisted and damaged in the derailing process. Nor is it easy to get back on track with God. For those people in John the baptist's day, it meant leaving home, leaving their employment and entertainment for a time, as they trudged out to John in the wilderness.
Would we do this? Could we do this? Ever thought of turning off the TV, turning off the radio, turning off the stereo, and taking time to humble yourself before God? There will always be excuses, there will always be distractions. But God's tracks wait, with their glorious destination, and, after all, doesn't a rail car belong on the tracks? So too, we belong in a vital, growing relationship with the Lord.
What does it means to come into a vital, growing relationship with the Lord? It means joining the people who came to John, in humility and holy distress. It means accepting responsibility for our sinful, selfish ways, and confessing our sins to God. Specifically, honestly, soberly, confessing our sins to God.
I once came across a book that was called, "The art of dodging repentance." John the Baptist rebuked those who came to him for show or simply out of curiosity, as we read in Matthew 3: He calls the religious people of his day, 'a brood of vipers.' In other words, snakes! Isn't this what our fallen, faulty human nature is like: Slippery, clever, and deceitful? Our natural desire is not to prepare the way for the Lord, but rather to prepare the way for ourselves. We like to take centre stage. If we can't do it in big ways, we will do this in little ways. We will do this in our families, in work situations, and we will do this in the church. But God's Word through his prophet John the baptist, summons us to repentance:
'Prepare the way for the Lord' - not for yourself.'Make straight paths for him.' -don't try to give him the 'run-around.' "Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him!" We do this by getting serious about our relationship with God; by confessing our sins, and by looking to Christ, for the powerful cleansing work that alone can free us from the dirt and stain of our sins, and give us pure hearts and minds.
When we clear away the many excuses and self-justifications we have, we prepare the way for God's work in our lives. In fact as we hear and respond to the call to repent today, God is already working in our lives, He is getting us back on track. He is working to clear away the little things, and the big things, that threaten to derail us again and again.
Prepare the way for the Lord. Prepare to receive his mercy, kindness and love. Welcome your Lord and Saviour, as he comes to you, today, washing you clean through his gift of baptism. Restoring you to himself through his powerful Word. Clearing the way, for you to be his guest this Christmas, and even better, part of his family forever. Amen.
May the peace of God, which is beyond all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen.